Viral moment of Gus Walz cheering dad at DNC brings awareness to neurodiversity

Transcript

00:00Yeah, last night this was one of the most talked about moments from the convention.

00:05The son of vice presidential nominee Tim Walls.

00:08You could certainly see the emotion on his face there as he listened to his dad speak

00:12last night.

00:13Our Sade Gray shows us how the teen is helping people understand his condition.

00:18Tearful cheers from 17-year-old Gus Walls as he watched his dad, Minnesota Governor

00:23Tim Walls, address the convention.

00:26The 17-year-old yelled, that's my dad, as he stood, tears streaming down his face and

00:32pointing to his dad.

00:34Walls calls his son's condition a secret power.

00:37Neurodiversity in general is that very unique way that individuals learn and experience

00:44the world around them.

00:45Amanda Timmerman is a speech-language pathologist at CST Academy.

00:50She says a neurodivergent person is a person on the autism spectrum or someone whose brain

00:55processes information in a way that is not typical of most individuals.

01:00It depends on the child and it depends on the individual.

01:04Some individuals may be non-speaking, however, they have other modalities of communication

01:08that we really provide and strive to support them with.

01:12Gus's parents disclosed to People magazine that their son has a non-verbal learning disorder,

01:17ADHD and an anxiety disorder.

01:20Occupational therapist Samantha Duff wants people to know there's nothing wrong with

01:24being neurodivergent.

01:25I think sometimes there's a stigma.

01:28We see families come to us and these kiddos have an autism diagnosis or ADHD and there

01:35have been situations where maybe they've been told that something about their child needs

01:39to be fixed.

01:40Duff says that's not true.

01:42Their children are perfect the way that they are and we're here to support them as a family

01:47with whatever they feel like is important for them.

01:50Reporting in Lincoln Park, Sade Gray, CBS News, Chicago.

01:55That was so powerful last night.

01:57I mean, just the raw emotion and the pure pride.

01:59I think as any parent, when you watch that and you think of your own children and at

02:03some point saying, as they point to you, that's my dad or that's my mom, it was a really special

02:09moment.

02:10And I love that there's this awareness now, this willingness to understand his conditions

02:14and realize, as they call it, his superpowers.

02:17So that's incredible.